MARKETS

The equity market closed the week with 62 million shares valued at Ksh2 billion against 85 million shares valued at Ksh3 billion transacted the previous week. Turnover today rose to Ksh466 million from Ksh458M posted yesterday, the number of shares traded stood at 14.9 million against 15 million posted the previous session.

Weighed down by debt obligations, operational inefficiencies and the Covid-19 pandemic, the airline recorded its worst ever loss of Ksh36.2 billion for the year ended December 2020 -  2.8 times more than the Ksh12.98 billion net loss it posted the previous year.

NSE noted that the State could potentially raise Ksh150 billion by reducing its stake in Safaricom to 25 per cent from the current 35 per cent. In 2008, the government raised more than Ksh50 billion after selling a 25 per cent stake, or 10 billion shares, in Safaricom.

“According to our estimates, Agriculture Insurance Premium globally is USD 32 billion. East Africa contributes about USD18 million, of which Kenya is about USD10 million. Governments and the Private Sector in East Africa are working together to increase agriculture insurance penetration. Less than 5% of the Kenya farming community is insured,” said Lovemore Forichi, Senior Underwriter of Agriculture at Allianz.

Family Bank defied the trend among lenders reporting their full year 2020 results as profit before tax rose 1.3% to Ksh1.44 billion up from Ksh1.42 billion in 2019. Profit After Tax for the full year in review was at Ksh1.2 billion, up from Ksh949.8 billion the previous year.

The merged bank recorded profit after tax of Ksh4.57 billion for the year ended December 31, 2020 down from Ksh7.8 billion in 2019. Like all other tier-one lenders, the situation was down to the tough operating environment in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The situation was largely attributed to the pandemic - as evidenced by the massive increase in loan loss provisions from Ksh5.6 billion in 2019 to Ksh26.63 billion last year. The spike drove a significant increase in the firm's operating expenses from Ksh44 billion in 2019 to Ksh72.6 billion in 2020.

With increased claims and lower investment returns, Sanlam closed the year on a Ksh78 million after-tax loss representing a drop from the prior-year after-tax profit of Ksh114 million. The situation was primarily attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic and its effects on local and international economies.

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